Wellford cruises to strong finish in Boston

April 22, 2014

Five local runners were among second-largest field of participants at Monday's 118th running of the Boston Marathon.

Jan Wellford of Keene was the top local finisher, running at an average pace of 6:43 per mile on the way to a time of 2:55:52. Competing in just his third road marathon, Wellford placed 1,616th overall out of a field of 31,805. An accomplished trail runner, the 32-year-old qualified for Boston with a time of 2:54:39 in the 2012 Green Mountain Marathon and a 2:49:49 in the Hudson-Mohawk Marathon.

Heidi Baumbach, a Lake Placid native, turned in a time of 3:20:52 at a pace of 7:40 per mile. She was the 1,010th overall woman in a field of 14,282 females.

Baumbach, a 2012 Ironman Lake Placid finisher, qualified for the race with a 3:14:21 at the Empire State Marathon in Syracuse.

Other local finishers were Rachel Stanton, Darci Lafave and Billy Whitney, all from Lake Placid. Stanton crossed the line in 3:44:18, Lafave in 4:04:13 and Whitney in 6:25:20.

A total of 35,671 runners were entered for Monday's race, with 32,456 starting and 31,805 (98 percent) finishing. Including wheelchairs and handcycles, 35,755 were registered.